156 
appear to bedivided. Asa matter of fact, few people have experience 
of it at present. Itis a common weed of warm countries, and I give 
notes on the experience of observers in other parts of the world. 
The late Mr. Thomas Bawden, of Grafton, wrote :—‘‘The enclosed 
grass is spreading very much here, even overrunning the common 
Couch. Stock do not seem to care much for it.” 
A Casino correspondent, however, writes, ‘‘ Hagerly eaten by cattle 
and horses.” 
Mr. Bailey speaks of it as a good summer grass in Queensland, but 
not liked by the farmer, as it spreads into cultivated places. 
“An annual grass belongmg to tropical countries, but now 
naturalised in most temperate climates. In the Southern States it is 
found in every door-yard and in all waste places.” 
Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says: “‘The clumps have many 
long leaves and stems rising 1 or 2 feet high, and many long, strong, 
deeply-penetrating, fibrous roots. It grows readily in door-yards, 
barn-yards, and rich, cultivated grounds, and produces an immense 
quantity of seeds. It is a very nutritious grass, and good for grazing, 
soiling, and hay. The succulent lower part of the stems, covered 
with the sheaths of the leaves, render it difficult to cure well, for which 
several days are required. It may be cut two or three times, and 
yields a large quantity of hay.” (Vasey.) 
‘“ Confined to rich waste places and old yards and gardens, and is 
rarely or never seen in ordinary cultivated fields, and is never used for 
hay, as it is only found in tufts and sparsely.” (Ravenel, quoted by 
Vasey.) 
“Tt is eaten by horses and cattle, and in some districts of India is 
considered to be a good fodder-grass, though Roxburgh says that 
cattle are not fond of it; this remark may, however, apply chiefly to 
the Bengal form, which the nature of the climate would render more 
rank and unpalatable.” (Duthie.) 
Other uses —A decoction of this grass is said to be used in British 
Guiana in the convulsions of infants. 
Habitat and range.—A native of Queensland and New South Wales, 
which is advancing down the coast and has arrived at least as far 
south as Port Jackson. It is found in most warm countries. 
75. LEPTOCHLOA. 
Spikelets several-flowered, or rarely one-flowered, sessile in two rows 
along one side of the slender usually numerous branches of a simple 
panicle, the rhachis of the spikelet articulate above the outer glumes 
and more or less produced above the flowering ones. 
Glumes keeled, acute or obtuse, unawned, the two outer empty ones 
shorter or rarely as long as the flowering ones. 
Palea prominently two-nerved or folded. 
Grain smooth or nearly so, the pericarp very thin and adnate. 
Spikelets five- or six-fowered. Flowering glumes rather obtuse. At 
Spikes dense, mostly crowded at the end of the rhachis... 1. L. subdigitata. 
Spikes slender, scattered along the long slender rhachis... 2. L. chinensis, 
| 
| 
| 
ee 
